After the Lady Knight
by ImaginIsa
Summary: Jo is now a knight of Camelot but she did leave home without permission and her mother is not too pleased with her. Lady Starmount finds her daughter and Arthur is not sure how to react. A second epilogue to "The Lady Knight," you might want to read that story first. Enjoy!


**After the Lady Knight**

Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin, the characters or any associated storyline.

Author's note: This is a continuation of my fanfic "The Lady Knight." Please read that story first since this one-shot will not make sense otherwise. I'm planning on making a few fanfics with the characters I introduced in that story and I'm not planning on re-explaining who Josephine, Boknavon and etc. are every time. Sorry, but the story doesn't flow if I do. (I tried.)

Arthur and Gwen were alone in their bedroom. Arthur had spent the entire day drawing up several documents with his council – including one to distribute Lord Boknavon's lands to loyal supporters and another to arrange for Camelot's patrols to protect Francia. Now the couple was finally alone and they were planning to –  
"Arthur!" Merlin burst into the room and Gwen and Arthur instinctively sprang apart.  
"Merlin!" Arthur shouted, rounding on the manservant, "How many times must I tell you to knock! You imbecile –"  
"Sorry, Sire, but…"  
"Get out or I'll…"  
"There is a Lady Starmount who is insisting on seeing you right away!" Merlin finished in a rush.  
Arthur paused, "Jo?"  
"No, sir," Merlin gulped. "I think it's her mother."  
Arthur began searching for his cape, aware that he was only wearing his undershirt. "Merlin," he hissed, "Help me!"

A minute later the king walked into the throne room. He nodded at Leon and Sir Heldrich before looking at his guests. A middle-aged woman with a few white hairs mixed into her dark brown bun had turned to look at him. Her chin was held high and she looked at the young Pendragon with piercing blue eyes. However, she was not alone. Another head turned toward the direction of Arthur's footsteps, but these eyes were a strange cloudy blue and did not focus on anything. They belonged to a young man standing in a more relaxed stance, with his hands clasped behind his back, and wearing an easy-going smile that was exactly like Josephine's.  
"Sire," Leon said, "Lady Starmount and her eldest son, Lord Starmount."  
"It is a pleasure to meet you," Arthur said coming closer and bowing slightly out of respect for their position of leadership in Francia.  
"The pleasure is completely ours, King Arthur Pendragon," Lady Starmount replied, curtsying as Jo's brother bowed.

As these pleasantries were exchanged, Merlin came forward to hiss in Leon's ear, "Where's Jo?"  
"On patrol with Elyan and Percival," Leon whispered back, "I sent Gwaine to get them but..."

Before Leon could finish the doors to the throne room opened once more and Josephine skidded to a halt inside. She was panting, having just ran all the way from the stables after leaping off her horse, and was wearing brand new metal armor that had been made especially for her.  
Neither her mother nor her brother was facing the doorway, and the new arrival could have been anyone but the boy's face broke into a huge smile and he said, "Hello Jo."  
"Jon?" Jo's surprise was evident. "Mother? What are you doing here?"  
Her mother didn't turn, and Arthur was confused to see her close her eyes and breathe in deeply, as if something pained her. But, Jon turned and skillfully walked in the direction of his twin sister's voice. Jo shook her head in amazement as she walked forward to meet him. They hugged warmly and Jon laughed under his breath;

"Armor, Jo-Jo? You hate armor."  
"Well," Jo pulled away slightly and smiled, "A little run in with a fanatic changed my mind. And it's quite well-made. They fitted it so you can tell I'm a girl and made of out of lighter material feel this..."  
"A run-in with a fanatic, Josephine?" Lady Starmount asked, finally looking at her daughter and piercing her with her gaze. Jo gulped.

Arthur interjected, "She saved my life, Lady Starmount. That is why..."  
"With all due respect," the Lady replied, glancing at Arthur, "I'm speaking with my daughter."  
"Yes, Madame," Arthur replied backing down. He felt foolish but Jo's mother honestly frightened him - he had no experience in dealing with mothers_. "Give me an assassination attempt any day," he thought, "But don't ask me to deal with this."_  
"Mother," Jo began, "I..."  
"You ran away," her mother interrupted, "You argue with me about running off to Camelot, I expressly forbid it and you do it anyway. You steal a horse, you steal your brother's clothes and you travel for weeks! Did you send a letter? No. Do you return? No. Do you even tell me when you'd be back or where you'd gone? No!"  
"Mother, I didn't mean to worry you..."  
"Really, Josephine?"  
"Okay, I didn't leave a note on purpose. But I didn't want you to send Jake, Walter or half the city for that matter to come get me! Besides," Jo huffed, "Jon knew where I went."  
"Don't drag me into this!" Jon protested, backing away with his hands up, "I already got yelled at for not telling her right away."  
"You two," Lady Starmount growled, "And your silly twin things...did you know, Josephine, he actually waited until the full moon to tell me he knew where you'd gone?"  
"Thanks bro," Jo said.  
"You owe me big time," he replied.  
"All he would tell me before that was that you were safe, but how he knew that I don't know."  
"Mother, I traveled in a merchant caravan part of the way," Jo said in a soothing voice, "Besides, Lance did it on his own when he was younger than me."  
"Lancelot!" Lady Starmount threw her hands in the air, "Honestly, sometimes I hate that boy for putting ideas in not only yours, but your younger brother's head as well. Since you left Benjamin has been almost impossible to handle. Talking about knights and swords and so on. Even telling people his older sister is the very first lady knight in King Arthur's court. Honestly!"  
"I am," Jo whispered.  
"Pardon me?" Jo's mother stared at her daughter, and took in the royal emblem on the red cape.  
"I'm a knight, mother," Jo said simply.

By this time, all of the royal guards had slipped into the throne room, although they had kept out of the way, and Arthur decided to try helping again.  
"Lady Josephine is one of my royal guards, Lady Starmount," Arthur said. "She beat every opponent in the tournament except for me."  
"Really?" Lady Starmount whispered quietly, gazing at her daughter.  
"And," Arthur added, "She saved my life."  
Jon chuckled quietly, "Of course she did."  
Mother and daughter looked at each other, and mother began to cry.

"Mother?" Jo approached her warily, "What's wrong?"  
"I was so afraid that the next I heard of you, you'd be dead," Lady Starmount relied quietly, "And now your job is to go and try not to die."  
"My job is to protect those who can't protect themselves," Jo answered.  
Lady Starmount shook her head sadly, but with a trace of a smile on her face. She walked over to her daughter and stroked her cheek.  
"Just like your father," she whispered, "Oh, Josephine, you even cut your hair."  
Jo gave her a hug, and they stayed that way for long time.

They finally broke apart when Gwaine, trying to look tactfully away and walk to the door at the same time, walked right into Percival. Both men swore as their armor colliding clanged together. Arthur gave them a disapproving look.  
"Is the moment over?" Jon asked wryly.  
"Yes," Jo answered with a grin.  
"Good," Jon said, then whistled shrilly.  
Dragon flew in through the open door and sat on his arm.  
"How has my crazy sis been treating you?" the blind youth asked the hawk, stroking his feathers.  
Lady Starmount, meanwhile, had cleaned the tears from her face and turned to face Arthur, "I'm so sorry, sire. I should have taken my family to a more private location."  
"It's perfectly alright," the king replied, trying not to look relieved, "Though I hope I can continue to rely on Josephine's presence."  
"I'm not leaving, sire," Jo said with confidence. Her mother glanced at her and Jo raised her chin, not quite defiantly but with a look in her eye that could not be challenged.  
Lady Starmount smiled, and Merlin instantly saw where Jo and Jon had gotten their smiles.  
"She's right, sir," Lady Starmount said, "She's staying right here."  
"Well, then," Queen Guinevere said, finally coming out from where she had been standing discreetly right outside the door, "Will you stay for dinner?"

Dinner was a cheerful affair. _"When she's not angry,"_ Merlin thought as he offered Lady Starmount more wine_, "Jo's mother is a lovely person."_  
Arthur and Jonathon, the current Lord of Starmount, had quickly finalized the protective alliance between the kingdom of Albia and Francia, and dinner was as much a celebration of new allies as a reunion for Jo and her family. Merlin couldn't keep himself from smiling at Josephine every time he passed her, and he saw Lady Starmount looking at him curiously. After dinner, Lady Starmount and Gwen talked over tea, Jo and Jon took Dragon hunting and everyone else in Camelot returned to their regular duties. The next morning, Jo's family prepared to leave despite Arthur's and Gwen's invitation to stay a few more days; "I trust those that work at my mansion completely," Lady Starmount told them, "But I did leave a fourteen-year-old girl and a ten-year-old boy technically in charge of a city." Somehow, in the bustle of getting ready, Jon managed to pick out Merlin's voice from the crowd and approached him.

"You're Merlin, right?" Jon asked as the manservant helped pack the horses.  
"Yes," Merlin replied, a little surprised. He didn't remember introducing himself.  
Jon cocked his head, as if he was listening to make sure other people weren't around and then said, "I have a request to ask you."  
"Okay," Merlin replied, "What is it?"  
"Look after my sister, please."  
"It'll be my pleasure," Merlin answered, still mystified, "But wouldn't you be better off asking one of the knights..."  
Jon shook his head, "Jo trusts the rest of the royal guards, and Arthur, but she trusts you differently. And if she ever needs to sit back with the woman and children, she'll listen to you more than any of the others."  
Merlin nodded then, remembering that Jon couldn't see, said, "I understand."  
"You know," Jon mused, "We used to get letters from Lancelot. Jo would read them aloud and I got the feeling that, when there was trouble, you were somehow always one step ahead of everyone else."  
"I...don't know what Lance told you but..."  
"Don't explain," Jon interrupted with an easy smile, "Just look after her."  
"I will," Merlin promised.  
Jonathon smiled and walked in the direction of his sister's voice for one more goodbye.  
Merlin leaned against the horse and looked up at the cloudless sky. "Jon didn't really need to ask me to watch out for Jo," he thought, "I was planning on doing that anyway."

The End


End file.
